Just a Cold
by Mistclaw
Summary: Ed is sick, but no matter how many times Al says it not just a cold Ed doesn't want to hear it. Even though whatever it may be could kill him. Rated T for language and blood, no pairings, Ed and Roy parentalness.
1. Chapter 1: Just a Cold

My first chapter FMA fanfic. I won't tell you what is wrong with Ed though, you'll find out in the next chapter. Yeah sorry I haven't uploaded anything in awhile, I was going to make this story just one chapter but it just got to long and I had to start over. Whatever, hope you all like it and I'm writing the 2nd chapter as we speak. ^^

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Just a cold

"Brother, wake up we're here." I opened my eyes at the sound of Al's voice. The train ride to central to report to colonel Mustang seemed longer. I sighed and sat up stiffly, my back aching from the uncomfortable train seat.

"Damn I hate reporting to that bastard." I yawned, stretching my arms above my head. I had been sleeping more than normal and tiring easily. Al said that it was probably a cold, and I agreed, it was just a little strange to get a cold in the middle of summer.

"You know if you don't he'll hunt you down." Al said, standing up and taking loud clanging steps down the aisle. I laughed and got up to follow him, letting him lead the way off the train. It felt good to be able to walk now, not cramped up in a small train seat. I didn't care that the station was full of people or that the air smelt like smoke and oil, I was out of that damn train.

We began to walk out of the station, side by side towards central command. I was muttering under my breath, cursing Mustang for making me report to him with every dead end in our search for the philosopher's stone. Every time we did I could almost feel the hope draining from Al, I hated that these dumb meetings made my brother hurt so bad.

I stopped mid step, coughing slightly. Al stopped next to me, turning his head to see why I had stopped. I coughed again, this time harder. The coughing soon turned into a horrible fit of ragged coughs.

"You okay brother?" Al asked, gently patting my back, hoping to make the coughing fit end. I coughed for a few more seconds then stopped, slightly confused.

"Yeah, probably from the damn train smoke." I said simply, walking ahead of him as though nothing had happened. He followed behind, his footsteps slower.

"What if it's something else? Like maybe your cold is getting worse." I laughed slightly. I turned around to face him.

"I'm fine, seriously. A cold's a cold, nothing more, no need to take me to the doctor over it." I turned around and continued walking. Al sighed behind me and walked after me, I could feel his soul filled gaze burning into my back, keeping an eye on me.

I didn't have another coughing fit, just small coughs on the way there. I sighed when we finally reached the building. The large gray building blocked out the sun, the green banner with the presidential symbol was the only color to the dull building.

"They should paint the outside red or something." I said as we climbed the stairs. Al laughed from behind me.

"What is it with you and the color red? Seems like a morbid color to me."

"Red just seems to get the blood boiling, you know? Like with bulls, you wave a red cloth in front of them and they flip out."

"I don't think the military wants a whole bunch of pissed off bulls storming into their building."

"I'd love to see that happen." I laughed. The guards' saluted us as we went by. I did the same and walked into the building. The inside wasn't as dull as the outside, the floor was green and the walls were white. I still would have preferred the interior to have some red in it, but whatever, if I became president that would be my first act.

Then a coughing fit came over me suddenly. I hunched over slightly, covering my mouth with my hands. I could see people looking at me as they walked by, I didn't care.

"Brother?" Al was ahead of me; I heard his footsteps clang over to me and felt his large metal hand on my back. I continued coughing for about a minute then stopped, the muscles in my chest and stomach hurting like crazy.

"I'm fine, really, let's get this over with." I tried to walk past Al but he blocked my way.

"Brother, you're not fine, if this continues your going to a doctor."

"Hell no! Doctors mean needle and needles can burn in hell for all I care."

"You're just being immature brother."

"No fucking doctors!" I snarled, pushing roughly past Al and storming away down the hall, even more pissed at Mustang. I could hear Al running to catch up with me but I ignored him, narrowing my eyes in frustration.

I hated that he worried about something as stupid as a cold; no one dies from a damn cold. Al shouldn't worry about me and my cold, it only made him feel worse.

I sighed and slowed my pace, letting Al catch up to me. We didn't talk until we reached Mustang's office, sighing I pushed open the door.

"Hello Fullmetal, any leads from the east?"

"Hell no, you just sent us there to get us out of your hair." I growled, flopping down on one of the couches in his office, tired as hell.

"No, I really thought that the people there would know, maybe I was wrong." Mustang sat up more and looked at me with those dark eyes. It felt like he could see into my soul, like he was looking through me. I shuttered and leaned back on the couch, sighing.

"Are you okay Fullmetal, you don't look real good." He stood up and walked around his desk to stand over me. He placed his un gloved hand on my forehead.

"Fuck off!" I hissed, pushing his hand away. Mustang just stood there looking at me.

"You have a fever, and you look like crap." He looked at me more closely, like he was examining me.

"It's just a cold." I snarled, sitting up to glare at him. Mustang sighed and motioned for Al to come over.

"Al, you take him to the barracks, rest will help him. I don't want one of my men getting sick." I growled and stood up, my legs shaking.

"Mustang, your such a…" I broke off as another coughing fit seized me. I cursed myself that it had to happen here, in front of colonel dumbass of all people. This coughing fit felt worse than before though, as soon as I drew in a rasping breath it was forced out by another hacking cough.

"Fullmetal?" Mustang asked. I ignored him and fell to my knees on the ground, covering my mouth as more coughs escaped from my chest. Al's hand rested on my back, he was saying something but I couldn't hear him over my coughing.

I felt something come out of my mouth and into my hands. I pulled them away and my eyes widened in shock. My hands were covered in blood.

I heard voices of concern and shock from around me; by the sound of it Hawkeye had walked into the office. I collapsed onto my right side, seeing Mustang kneeling over me as I continued to hack up blood.

My coughing grew weaker and then it stopped, leaving me gasping on the floor, the world spinning around me.

"What the hell? Fullmetal can you hear me?" Mustang asked his hand on my forehead. I could see some blood spots on his hands, like he had tried to cover some of my coughing.

"Yeah…" I closed my eyes slowly; it felt like all the energy in me had been drained. I was too tired to care that I was falling asleep in the colonels office, too tired to care that Hawkeye was talking quickly to a doctor on the phone…


	2. Chapter 2: Father Figure

Two chapters in one day, yay you are all lucky and stuff. Yeah you'll see why this is called father figure at the end of the chapter, but you still don't know what Ed has yet...not until the next chapter hopefully hehehehe. I'm evil like that.

Enjoy and stuffz

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Like a father

"Ed? Edward? Wake up!" I opened my eyes slowly; the voice yelling at me seemed so far off. The room around me was spinning and blurry, the voice around me seemed to echo off the walls of my mind. I was on one of the colonel's couches, laying on my right side with a towel under my head.

"Brother!" Al's voice broke through the echoes; I could see his face spinning in front of me, moving in and out of focus.

"Al?" I rasped, my throat felt like someone had shoved steel wool into it. Just talking made me cough; no blood came into my mouth though.

"Edward we're taking you to a hospital right now." I saw Mustang looking down at me, eyes stern but comforting at the same time. I just shook my head, coughing a little.

"No…hospital…" I coughed out; hospital's meant needles and tests of all sorts. I attempted to sit up but a horrible pain in my chest made me lay back down. I groaned in pain and closed my eyes.

"Brother stop being so immature." Al said, gently shaking my shoulder. I opened my eyes and narrowed them at him.

"No damn hospitals!" I yelled, my voice breaking at the end. I went into a coughing fit; I sat up, ignoring the pain in my chest. Mustang grabbed the towel and placed it under my mouth, making sure I didn't cough up blood on myself.

"Do you want to die here then?" Mustang growled harshly as I coughed up a startling amount of blood. Woozy and light headed I fell back onto the couch, taking ragged breaths that seemed to echo in my chest.

"It's…a cold…" I wheezed out, the world around me spinning faster that it had before. I felt a cool hand on my forehead and knew it was Mustang's.

"It's not a cold dumbass." He grabbed my hand roughly, holding it in front of my face so I could see the blood covering my palm, "with a cold you don't cough up blood!"

"NO FUCKING HOSPITALS!" I shrieked as loudly as I could, "I'M FINE DAMMIT!" My screams ended in another coughing fit, this time I got up off the couch and staggered towards the office door.

"No…hospitals…" I rasped between coughs. My legs could barely hold me up and I fell to the ground, landing roughly on my side. I was panting; it felt as though the air around me seemed to get thicker and thicker…

'I can't breathe!' I screamed in my head. My eyes widened in panic and I writhed on the floor, letting out small whimpers of fear.

"Brother?" Al's hand was on my shoulder, holding me to the ground. I looked up at him, gasping for air. My chest was beginning to hurt badly now and I hacked up more blood, splattering Mustang's white floor with red.

"It's…hard…to…breathe…" I gasped out. I saw Mustang look at Hawkeye, who stood near the phone.

"Their sending an ambulance sir, they said it could be life threatening." She looked at me, her eyes wide with concern. I wanted to yell at Mustang, call him a traitor and a liar but another coughing fit silenced me. I was losing too much blood and it felt like my head was full of air. Everything was spinning and blurred, the air around me seemed to become hotter.

"Edward?" Mustang walked over to me, kneeling at my head. I looked up at him, unable to say anything through the horrible coughs. "They'll be here soon; you'll feel better once they take you to the hospital." I only nodded weakly and closed my eyes, watching the world spin was giving me a headache.

I could hear sirens outside the building, here confused yelling from the people outside the building. I heard a gentle knock at the door before there was a flurry of action.

The paramedics were asking Mustang and Al questions as they lifted me onto a stretcher. I opened my eyes to see a man standing over me, a clear plastic oxygen mask in his hand.

"It will help you breathe." He said simply. I felt him slip it onto my face, as soon it was on I felt better, the air seemed less dense, lighter. I closed my eyes slowly, savoring the feeling of air flowing easily into my lungs.

"I'll go with him Al, you won't be able to fit in the ambulance, and Hawkeye take him to the hospital with you." I heard Mustang call to them as I was pulled out of the office. I opened my eyes to see Mustang walking as fast as he could, keeping up with the paramedics.

"I'll…be fine…on my…own…" I rasped, looking at him as his face went in and out of focus. He smiled slightly.

"You'll need someone to be there with you, to hold your hand and make you feel safe." I felt his hand grab my left, holding it tightly. I suddenly remembered my mother doing the same for me and Al when we were sick, holding our hands trying to make us feel okay. I also remembered us holding her hand as her eyes closed and her last breath left her body.

It seemed strange to think of Mustang as a parental figure, he pissed me off as much as I did to him. He was so full of himself and ambitious. But he also had a compassionate side, he took care of those under him, he truly treated his men like family.

Maybe in a way he thought of me as his son. And maybe in some way I wished that he was my father. Hohenheim had left my mother and us behind years ago; I didn't want to think of that bastard as a dad. I smiled slightly at the thought of having a father figure in my life, someone like Mustang.

"Thanks…" I breathed as we entered the ambulance. I heard the sirens echo through the streets, telling everyone to get out of the way, that someone was hurt and needed help.

"It looks like he lost a lot of blood; you said he was coughing it up right?" I felt a needle pierce the bend of my arm and I flinched. Mustang's hand tightened around mine, making the rising panic in me die down.

"Yeah, his brother also told me he's been sleeping a lot to, does that help?"

"A little, the doctors will be able to see what's wrong with him when we get there."

Mustang sighed and continued to hold my hand as the ambulance neared the hospital. I hated to admit it somewhat but having him there, holding my hand, made me feel better. It felt like my mom was back with me, comforting me, giving me a sense of safety.

"Thanks…" I whispered, gently enough so that only the colonel could hear. He smiled and looked down at me.

"Your welcome Edward."

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Yes, no RoyxEd, if you even suggest it I swear to god your dead. Mustang thinks of him as a son and Ed thinks of him as a father. Yes a little bit of cuteness thrown in there, enjoy it. Again if you say it is RoyxEd your getting beaten to death with a plastic lawn chair.


	3. Chapter 3: Tired

Sorry that this is a short chapter and stuff. My brother and his friend took my main computer and I'm up in my hot ass computer room on this way old computer. Yeah I will probably rewrite this sometime after the story is finished. I'm hoping to get a chapter done every day or two, cause I have a lot of notes on Ed's illness and I hope to use them. Yeah you don't get to know what is wrong with Ed until the next chapter, cause I'm evil. I was going to reveal it in this chapter, but it seems better that I add small clues to what he may have in this one. Hehehehe, if you have any idea what it may be keep it to yourself, or private message me, I may tell you if your right...

So yeah, since it was a short chapter the title sucks, just called tired cause Ed falls asleep in the end, lol. Enjoy and favorite and review. I'm seriously happy that I got 7 reviews so far, the most I've ever gotten on a story. Thank you all and I hope I can get at least 15 reviews (that isn't so hard is it?). And thank you all for telling me things that are wrong with the chapters, have fun butchering this chapter, cause I know it sucks and there are probably so many errors in it.

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Tired

As soon as the ambulance stopped I was rushed into the hospital, Mustang keeping a steady pace at my side.

"We'll get him into a room then see what we can do to find out the cause of this." One of the doctors said, Mustang nodded slightly.

"Do you have any idea what it could be?" He asked. I looked away from him, away from the doctors and at the ceiling. I watched as the florescent lights passed by overhead, blurring into glowing white squares.

"Maybe a bad case of phenomena, we can't be sure until we get a CT scan on his chest." I closed my eyes, regretting that I had let them take me here without a fight. I heard a door creak open but I only closed my eyes tighter, fearful of what I might see.

"Could you wait outside sir?" I heard a doctor address Mustang. I grabbed his hand tighter, like it was my lifeline keeping me tethered to the world.

"Don't…go…" I rasped, opening my eyes slightly. Mustang was looking down at me, but above his head an even brighter light glowed. I closed my eyes again, whimpering slightly in panic, "please…"

I heard him sigh, still holding my hand tightly. "I'm sorry doctor but I can't leave him alone."

"Okay, if you stay he might be calmer. What are your names; the woman on the phone didn't give any identification."

"I'm Colonel Roy Mustang and the boy is Edward Elric." I heard a small gasp from somewhere in the room. I was known pretty well in Central, someone here was bound to know who I was. I coughed slightly and opened my eyes, focusing on Mustang's face.

"Okay, Edward this may hurt but only for a little." I felt a needle in my arm, then felt it being withdrawn. I shuttered, holding back whimpers of fear. Then I felt a burning, like the doctor had injected me with fire. I couldn't hold back a shriek of pain, I writhed a little on the stretcher, eyes wild with fear.

"Ed, calm down. They just injected you with a dye so that they can see the blood vessels in your lungs better. Their helping you." I looked into his eyes, seeing something in them that made me stop panicking. The pain slowly stopped and I sighed slightly.

But my writhing had caused a coughing fit though. I sat up on the stretcher, bowing my head and taking the mask off. I heard gasps from the room when I hacked up a mouthful of blood onto my lap. The coughing continued, more blood running from my mouth.

"Ed!" Mustang yelled, gently putting his hands on my back. I heard doctors rushing around me, trying to get my coughing to stop. After a while I fell back onto the stretcher, exhausted and light headed. I felt one of the doctors replace the mask and I breathed in a ragged breath.

"So…tired…" I whispered, my eyes slowly closing. My chest ached, it felt like someone had parked car after car over it. I was still breathing but how long until my lungs just collapsed?

"Can he sleep; these coughing fits seem to take a lot out of him." I heard Mustang's voice from far off. Like he was calling to me at the other end of a tunnel.

"Yes he can, hopefully by the time he wakes up we'll have an answer." I sighed and let my mind wander, somewhere where there wasn't needles and doctors around every corner. It wasn't long before I gave into dizzying sleep.


	4. Chapter 4: Answer

Yeah, you finally get an answer to what it wrong with Ed! I know you all have been waiting for it. Yeah, this one took me longer than I thought, cause my friend came over then my brother took over my main computer for the whole day playing world of warcraft. Since I woke up at 7 I got on and finished it just before he woke up. Yes, you all are special like that, I normally don't get up until like 9 or 10, but I woke up early to finish this chapter just for you all. So please enjoy and I really appreciate all the favorites and comments, it makes me happy to check my email and see 5 messages relating to this story in my inbox.

So please enjoy ^^

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Answer

I was aware of cold artificial air blowing around me, I could feel a somewhat soft bed below me and someone had changed me out of my normal clothes into the thin hospital shirt and pants. There was gentle beeping from somewhere in the room, probably from a heart monitor that they had hooked me up to. A plastic thing was in both of my nostrils, supplying me with clean oxygen.

I was also aware of a hand holding mine, gently cradling it in both of their hands. I knew they weren't Al's hands, these hands were to warm, even though they still felt cooler. I tried to remember what had happened before I passed out.

The room was dark…something about a CT scan…a painful injection…telling Mustang to stay with me…coughing up startling amounts of blood…after that my memory went blank. I struggled slightly, moaning in pain as I felt needles in my arm shift.

I knew that one of them was probably hooked up to a bag of blood, the other a bag with IV fluid laced with painkillers. I coughed slightly and groaned as my muscles began aching dully; these coughing fits had really worn me down…

Mustang's hand held mine tighter, almost to say that he was there and I was safe. I suddenly remembered my mother holding my hand like this when I was sick. She would sometimes hum a song without the words and rub my head, if I would moan in pain she would make gentle shushing sounds.

"Shush…shush…" I was shocked to hear Mustang's voice; it was almost as though he had read my thoughts. I grabbed his hand tighter, wanting to open my eyes but unable to. My eyelids felt like someone had weighed them down with cinder blocks.

There was a part of me that hated this, hated the fact that Mustang was here, holding my hand like my mother would. He was just an arrogant, bossy and ambitious jerk, always finding something to scold me for. The idiot was so self centered and pompous at times that I wanted to rip his big head right off his shoulders.

But there was another part, a stronger part of me that was rarely seen, that wished that Mustang really was my father. I sometimes would hope that he would tell me and Al that he was our real dad that he would make up for what Hohenheim had destroyed. But the differences between us were too much; Al and I had blond hair and golden eyes, unlike Mustang's dark hair and almost black eyes.

I squirmed slightly and let out a small groaning in pain as I felt the needles in my left arm shift. Mustang's hand gently moved up my arm to rest right below the tubes that were pushed into my veins.

"Edward, don't struggle, you'll only hurt yourself more." His voice was calming, full of parental concern and comfort. I forced open my eyes to see him looking at me, his eyes softer than they normally were. Glancing around the room I noticed that Al wasn't there. Panic began to overtake me.

Mustang gently placed his other hand on my forehead, as though he were checking for a fever. "Alphonse is fine; he went back to the barracks to get some of your things."

I sighed slightly and began to calm down. Al was fine, he hadn't left me alone. Then I remembered why I was in this place, I turned my head back to Mustang, looking into his eyes.

"Do they know what's wrong with me?" I asked the demanding tone in my voice weak and rough. He looked away, removing his hand from my forehead.

"I'll tell you when Al gets here, I didn't tell him either, I promised that I would when you woke up." Mustang continued to look away, unable to look me in the eye.

"It's bad isn't it?" I felt tears sting my eyes. I couldn't die, not yet, not until I had gotten Al's body back. I couldn't die and leave him alone; I couldn't die without fulfilling my promise to him. When he didn't answer I began to panic.

"Answer me dammit! How bad is it?" My voice broke off in a horrible ragged cough. I sat up and covered my mouth with my automail arm as a coughing fit began. I could see blood seeping through my fingers, falling onto the white hospital blanket. The heart monitor near me began to beep faster as my heart thundered in my chest.

Soon the coughing fit ended, I leaned back in the bed breathing heavily. The heart monitor resumed its normal beeping. I looked over at Mustang with unfocused eyes, watching as his face spun around me.

"It's bad, but you won't die…I told you I'd tell you when…" The door of my room suddenly opened as the large suit of armor that was Al walked in. He carried a suitcase, my red jacket slung over his shoulder. When he saw that I was awake he rushed over to me, dropping the suitcase at the right side of the bed.

"Big brother you're awake!" His voice was full of happiness, the armor's soul filled gaze seemed to glow brighter.

"Yep." I said, my voice sounded hoarse and rough, my throat felt like someone had scrubbed it with steel wool. I watched as Al's gaze trailed down to my automail hand, covered in my own blood.

"But you're not better…" He whispered, looking at Mustang suddenly, "He's awake, tell us what's wrong."

"Okay, Al you better sit near him, I don't know how he'll take it, or you for that matter." Al obeyed and sat in the chair to my right, gripping my automail hand tight. Mustang sighed and gripped my hand tighter.

"The CT scan showed a mass in your left lung. It's not too big, around the size of a golf ball, but it's enough to be worrisome. The doctor's think it may be lung cancer, they can only tell after they run tests on the tumor…" My eyes widened in shock, fear and panic coursing through my veins.

"Cancer?" I gasped out; I felt sick to the stomach and sat up suddenly. Al looked just as shocked as me, the crimson lights that were his eyes filling the eye holes of the helmet.

"They're coming in a little while to remove it; if it's benign they will keep you here for a little while longer. If it's malignant they have to give you chemotherapy to make sure the cancer doesn't spread, that could take months…"

"How did I get it? I don't smoke or anything and you know that."

"They said that you probably breathed it in somewhere, once it got in your lung the cancer got stronger."

I looked at the wall of the room, suddenly remembering the place Mustang had sent us just a little while ago. "Now that I remember it, the people there were coughing a lot. They also told us that some where dying from the unknown disease…something about the mill workers getting it…"

Mustang looked at me and sighed sadly, "Asbestos is in some mills, it's been known to cause lung cancer in patients. I shouldn't have sent you there, it I didn't you wouldn't be sick…" He looked away, letting in a ragged gasp as though holding back tears.

"It is not your fault, we chose to go and this happened. How were you supposed to know that the people there had lung cancer?" I looked fiercely at his back, "This is _not _your fault at all, and we're just as much to blame as you."

He turned his head around to face me again, eyes glassy as though he were trying not to cry. "I'm sorry Edward; I'll blame myself for this no matter what you say…"

There was a sudden knocking at the door, after the knock a doctor walked in, a clipboard in his hands.

"Hello Mr. Elric, we're ready to remove that tumor now." Behind him a nurse came in, an oxygen tank with a mask attached to it trailing behind her. She moved to my side, separating Al's hand and mine as she went. The oxygen tube was removed to be replaced with the mask.

"Edward, I need you to count to ten backwards. Once you reach five you'll be asleep." I heard her twist a knob and felt strange smelling air rush into the mask.

"Ten, nine, eight…" I trailed off as my eyelids began to feel heavier, my body went limp as I continued. "Seven…six…five…" Just as promised I was submerged in a dark wave of unconsciousness once I had reached five.

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You may ask why I picked lung cancer. Well my grandfather died of lung cancer 6 years ago and my grandmother's boyfriend only 4 months ago. I dedicated this story to them and to all the other people out there that are dealing with any type of cancer. My other grandmother had colon cancer and survived after a year of chemotherapy. She's doing well and I'm glad that she's alive.

So this story is kinda dedicated to everyone that is battling cancer or who lost their lives to it. We will never forget you or the battle you fought to keep your life. If you know anyone who is fighting cancer or lost their fight to it please feel free to leave it in a review, it's a common fact that most people in the united states as well as all around the world are currently fighting or dying from cancer.

Miss you Pappap and Harry, I hope you are in a better place free from the pain of cancer.

Yes, emotional bit there, hope you all aren't like "she's going to make this story all sappy and stuff now." I won't, the story shall stay the same no matter what! Mwahahahahahahaha, I don't let small depressing paragraphs get me down. I hope to have the next chapter done by the end of this week, I also hope to get more reviews, they make me happy and stuff. ^^


	5. Chapter 5: Walls

Told you I would have it up by the end of the week! lol, I finished this in like two hours. My brother and mom went camping and left me with my dad so I have a lot of free time to write this until Monday afternoon, when my brother comes back and steals my computer to play World of Warcraft for five hours straight. So yeah, this is kinda a 4th of July present for everyone, even though it's the 3rd (go ahead and hate me lol). This chapter is kinda a happier, funnier chapter, cause the chapters after this will kinda get serious. Yes, you will find out why this chapter is called walls soon...mwahahahahahaha ^^

Enjoy

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Walls

I woke up to groggy darkness; my head feeling like it was filled with rocks. I groaned and tried to move my left arm but it felt as heavy as my head. I couldn't remember anything after counting to the number five; the only thing that I could remember was a dreamless sleep.

After awhile I forced open my eyes, closing them quickly when I saw blinding lights above me. Just the small exposure to light had made my headache badly.

"Ed? You awake?" I heard Mustang's voice on my right, I groaned as his voice triggered a small twinge of pain in my head.

"Yeah, damn my head hurts." I managed to raise my right hand to cover my face as I opened my eyes slowly. I heard him laugh and felt his hand rest comfortingly on my shoulder.

"You look like you have a hangover." I groaned, closing my eyes halfway. After my eye's adjusted to the bright light in the room I turned my head to glare at Mustang.

"Feels like it, is this normal?" I asked, flinching at a small pain in my chest. He smiled slightly.

"Yeah, they said it would last for twenty minutes or so."

"Damn, twenty minutes?"

"Don't make me repeat myself, you just had a massive surgery of course your going to be groggy and weak from the painkillers their giving you."

I sighed, turning my head from Mustang to look at my left arm. Of course there was an IV attached to the bend in my arm, probably filled with tons of painkillers. Then I remembered why I had the surgery in the first place.

"Is it out?" I asked simply, turning my head from my arm, just looking at the needle imbedded in my arm made me feel sick.

"It's out and we'll know in a day or two if it's malignant or benign." Mustang gently removed my automail hand from my head and held it in his hands. I closed my eyes, not exactly tired but not fully awake yet.

"That's what my mom used to do when Al and I were sick…"

"What?"

"Hold our hand like that; sometimes she would even hum a song to us."

"What song?"

"I don't know, some sort of lullaby, speaking of Al where is he?" I looked around the room, looking for the suit of armor that was my brother. I knew I would be able to see him in this room; he would stand out against the white walls and floor.

"He's in the waiting room telling Hawkeye about your current condition." He sighed slightly, "They both might be in soon, if you want so many people in your room."

"I don't care; they'll add some color to this damn room. Why can't hospitals have red walls or something?" I heard Mustang laugh slightly and I smiled.

"Why red?"

"Red is an awesome color, it stands out. If you don't want the walls to be red then paint them blue or purple, just anything other than fucking white."

"In children's hospitals they paint the walls with bright colors. Sometimes if you're lucky you'll get a room with little fish painted on the walls."

"Are you saying that I should be in the children's hospital?"

"Maybe, the walls aren't 'fucking white' there."

"But I'm not a little kid, I don't want a room painted ocean blue with drawings of fish on it."

"You're the one who said he wanted the room red."

"Shut up." I smiled slightly; it felt good to be arguing with colonel dumbass again, at least he wasn't treating me like a sick little kid. But I knew that could change any moment, once the test results came back I would be treated like that for a couple months or be allowed to leave the hospital without an IV and oxygen mask attached to me.

Suddenly the door opened, I knew it was Al and Hawkeye, since the doctors normally knocked before barging into a room. The large suit of armor entered first, moving slowly as though he thought I was still sleeping.

"You can make all the noise you want, I'm awake now!" I shouted, making Al jump slightly, I laughed as his head almost broke a hole in the ceiling.

"Big brother." Al ran to my side, holding my left hand carefully in his large metal hands, "thank goodness you're awake."

"Why how long was I out?"

"I don't know, around seven hours after surgery. That stuff they gave you must have been strong."

"It sure as hell was." I smiled and watched as Hawkeye entered the room, more formal than Al's entrance had been.

"Hello colonel Mustang." She nodded in his direction and saluted. Mustang laughed slightly.

"Hawkeye, you don't have to be so serious. It's not like I'll report you for not saluting me."

"Sorry sir, habit." Hawkeye blushed slightly and walked to stand next to him, looking at me with gentle brown eyes. "I heard about your condition, I really hope you get well soon."

"Same." I sighed and leaned back into the bed, looking at the white wall on the other side of the room, lost in thought.

"What happens if it's malignant? What do I do then? They won't make me stay in the hospital will they?" I couldn't stop the questions from pouring out of my mouth. I looked away from the wall to look at Mustang and Hawkeye.

"If it's malignant then you come back to the hospital twice a month for four to six months. If that's the case you'll stay with me." I gaped at Mustang, shocked by how much he knew about my condition and that he was allowing me to live with him.

"Why do I have to stay with you?"

"Because I know the most about your condition, while you've been sleeping I've asked the doctors about lung cancer and its treatment. I'm practically and expert on this now."

I glared and looked at Al, kinda hoping he would disagree to this arrangement. "What do you think Al, if you're okay with it then so am I."

"I think it would be the best thing for you, but remember that is if the cancer is malignant, there is a chance that this won't happen."

"I know, but we still need to think of all the options." I sighed and turned my head to glare at Mustang again, "So I guess if I have cancer I'm staying with you."

"Yep, don't worry. My walls aren't hospital white."

"What color are they?"

"Why do you care so much on the color of my walls?"

"Because I don't want to be stuck in a house with some crazy colored walls, like bright yellow or something."

"They're tan, is that okay for you."

"Yeah, I would prefer red though."

"Again with the red…"

"Red is an awesome color! I thought you would like it mister flame alchemist, since it is the color of fire."

"I don't want my house to look like I set it on fire."

"When I get a house of my own the walls are going to be red, no white hospital walls."

I heard Mustang laugh, amused by my obsession with the color red. Even Al and Hawkeye began laughing, eventually I joined in.

Might as well laugh before I found out if I had cancer or not.

* * *

Yes, because everyone needs to know the color of someone's walls. My friends used to ask me that at lunch (as well as ask the color of my bathtub, which is blue by the way lol) yeah, my friends and I are weird like that. So I hope you liked it, I just took my happy pills and I'm hyper and laughing at nothing, so I wanted to make something uber random so I did. I iz evil like that mwahahahahaha, lol just kidding, I'm not really really evil, only really evil ^^

Hope you liked it and thank you for 15 reviews! I want to get to 20, since 20 is a cool number like that, but not as cool as the number 27...*goes on and on about things better than the number 20*

Yeah, so review, favorite and stuff. ^^


	6. Chapter 6: Memories

Yep, two chapters in one day. This one is short cause I'm way tired and stuff, and I didn't really know what to write for this chapter...the next chapter will be from Mustang's point of view for anyone who wants to know.

This chapter was really personal for me. Cause in 3rd grade I was in and out of hospitals. They constantly stuck me with needles and ran tests that led to nowhere. I'm terrified of needles and still have scars from the IVs and blood tests. These memories haunt me to this day, I still have nightmares of what they did to me. I almost cried writing this chapter...since what Ed does is what I do when I wake up from a nightmare.

Yeah sorry for that, just all tired and stuff and I had to look up stuff on chemotherapy treatments that made my skin crawl, I don't advise looking it up unless you aren't afraid of needles and stuff.

Please enjoy and review and favorite. I lovels you all so much that I put two chapters up in one day ^^ and I might have the next one finished tomorrow or Monday depending on if I'm playing World of Warcraft or sleeping lol.

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Memories

I was lying on Mustang's bed, looking up at his tan ceiling with unfocused eyes. I wasn't really seeing it, instead my mind wandered elsewhere, to memories that I wanted gone forever…

_Doctors, so many doctors, crowding into that small hospital room. Each was looking at me with sympathetic eyes; one of the nurses had tears in her eyes._

_ "Malignant." Was the only word they said. Then the world seemed to spin, nothing seemed right. Which way was up? Was it night or day? Was this really happening to me? _

I cringed at the memory, curling under the blankets as though they could shield me from the whirling thoughts in my mind.

_Needles…I hated needles…they took every opportunity to stick me with one there…and that thing that they had put in my chest to give that single lung the chemotherapy that it needed…the worst part was the needles…_

"No needles, please no, stop…" I whimpered to myself, covering the bend of my arm with my automail hand, body shaking in terror.

_The chemotherapy was bad too, days after I was weak and sick, unable to eat without throwing up…then back to the hospital for more injections…more blood tests…_

"NO!" I shrieked, writhing with terror in the bed, head lashing from side to side. I heard footsteps; they were coming closer and closer. "No more fucking needles! No more fucking pain!" I screamed, curling up at the head of the bed, shaking with terror.

_Needles…the prick of the needles…it only hurts for a little…but the pain seems like an eternity…don't look…I looked once…the horror of seeing that strange metal object entering the blue vein in your arm…begging for them to stop…writhing in their arms as I tried to free myself…_

"Brother, calm down your safe…" I felt Al's metal hand on my shoulder; I hadn't even noticed that he and Mustang had entered the room.

"Needles…no needles…please no more needles…" I heard my voice break; I was holding back tears of terror. Mustang pulled me into his arms, holding me like a parent would a child.

"Edward, there are no needles here. Your next chemotherapy session is next week, and after that you have to go back one more time and then you're done." I curled closer to him, savoring the warmth of his body, the feel of his hand gently rubbing my back.

"I don't want to go back…it's scary…needles…" I shook again. I heard Mustang mutter something to Al, and then heard clanging footsteps leaving the room.

"Al's getting your medication; you'll feel better after you take it. I promise." I shuddered. I hated constantly having to take pills to keep the pain away, to keep these nightmares from taking over my life.

"I'm tired of this; I want it all to stop…" Tears began to stream from my eyes; it felt like all hope had faded from me.

"It will Ed, I'm here and Al's here. We'll always be here; we'll never let anything hurt you." Then he began humming. It sounded familiar, like my mom's song that she would hum to Al and I when we were ill or scared. I heard Al's footsteps clang into the room, heard the sound of pills rattling in the bottle as he passed them to Mustang.

"Here Ed, they'll make you feel better." He pulled me out of his hug and held up the pill to me. I took it quickly, swallowing it dry even though it tasted horrible. I then hugged Mustang again, desperate for his comfort.

"Did Al tell you about the song mom used to hum?" I asked eyes half closed as the pill slowly kicked in.

"Yeah, I told him what you said about it and I know it will help you."

"It has…I haven't heard it in a long time…"

"Do you want me to stay with you until you fall asleep?"

"Yes please." I murmured, feeling him lie down in the bed with me still in his arms. I buried my head in his chest, listening to his heart beat slowly and gently. I sighed and closed my eyes, drowsy from the medication.

"Sleep now Ed…" Mustang whispered, resting his head against my neck. I heard him begin to hum again, the sound echoing in my mind and soothing me. The bad memories retreated to the back of my mind, only letting the wonderful memories of before this terror whirl in my mind instead.

"Good night brother." Al whispered, his hand gently rubbing my back.

"Good night Al." I muttered back, I burrowed closer to Mustang, "good night dad." I whispered into his chest. I felt him stiffen; he normally did that when I would call him dad. Then he relaxed and let out a sigh.

"Good night Ed." He whispered. I knew he was hesitant to call me son, but I didn't care. As long as he was my dad in my eyes that was fine by me.


	7. Chapter 7: Father and Son

YAY! Another chapter is up, and I reached 25 reviews. Well happy 4th of July people, to celebrate you get yet another chapter. This took like 3 hours to write, but I had it planned out from chapter 3 lol. So hope you all enjoy, and EdxRoy parental FTW lol.

Thank you all for the favorites and reviews, they make me happy ^^

Yeah, there might be 2 more chapters after this one, or the next one will be the last, I'm not so sure yet. An please vote in the poll on my profile, cause whatever story you pick will be my next project, and it will probably be chapters like this one, since it makes the story more detailed if its short chapters instead of one long story.

And thanks to everyone who voted in the poll, so far it looks like I'll be rewriting Dog of the Military but that could change if more people vote ^^

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Father and Son

I walked out of the room after Ed had fallen asleep, I knew Al would keep an eye on him and if something were to happen he would tell me. I sighed, poor Ed.

Ever since the start of his chemotherapy he didn't seem like himself. He wasn't constantly arguing with me or really making jokes anymore, now he just stayed in my bedroom having nightmares. The doctors had warned me that the strain on his body from the treatments would make him hallucinate, but I never thought it would be this bad…

They had Ed on so many pills now, painkillers, blood thinners, medication for anxiety and depression…I could understand that he was tired of depending on these pills to live. If he didn't take them though everything would just get worse.

I really did feel bad for him, he was just a child and no matter how much he denied it a scared young boy. He had begun calling me dad after his first two chemotherapy treatments, it shocked me at times but I was getting used to it. He was like a son to me and through all this I guess he needed a father figure, someone to hold him and tell him he was safe.

Ed's mental health wasn't the only thing that worried me though, the doctors had also warned me about the side effects of the therapy, weakening of the immune system, fatigue, tendency to bleed easily, vomiting, weight loss, and hair loss. Thank god he hadn't lost any of his hair; it was just duller and thinner than it used to be.

The thing that worried me most was how much weight Ed had lost. Al and I were lucky if he could hold down some toast without getting sick. The doctors had told us that we should force feed him, since he needed to keep his strength up to get better faster. Just the thought of shoving something down the poor boy's throat made my skin crawl. I wouldn't do that, sometimes I would make him eat something but that was as close as I would get to force feeding him.

Ed also was sleeping more than normal, he rarely left the bedroom unless he needed to use the bathroom or go to the doctors for his chemotherapy. I hated seeing him so weak, even the simple task of walking took a lot out of him. Al would normally help him walk around the house if he wanted to leave the bedroom, he would sometimes tell me that the tan walls of my room were boring him and that I should paint them red.

I sighed again and sat down on one of the wooden kitchen chairs, resting my head in my hand. I wasn't doing well either, just the stress of caring for Ed made me sick. I was on medication too, mainly depression medication, this whole thing with Ed was making me depressed. I cared a lot for Ed; he was like a son to me, even though I didn't want to tell him. Even though he called me dad I hadn't called him son, not yet. I was kinda scared that if the chemotherapy was too much for him and he died that I would be even more depressed. Just the thought of his body lying lifeless in a coffin chilled me to the bone.

I wouldn't let that happen, he was like my child, and I would protect him with everything inside me. I felt the same way towards Al, they both needed a parent that would reassure them and comfort them when they needed it. I was allowing Al to stay in my home with Ed; I was secretly worried that Al would freak out in the military barracks if he was away from his brother to long.

I was brought out of my thoughts by the sound of heavy panting. I turned towards the sound and was shocked to see Ed stumbling into the kitchen, leaning heavily on the wall.

"Ed what the hell are you doing? You should be in bed." I ran towards him, grabbing him in my arms before he could fall onto the floor.

He raised his head weakly and smiled at me, "I wanted to talk to you." I sighed and helped him sit down on one of the kitchen chairs. Ed flopped down into it, his thin body shaking with exhaustion.

"Why didn't you let Al come and get me? What if you feel and broke a bone or something." My question was met with a weak laugh. Ed looked over at me with dull, glazed golden eyes.

"I'm not an old lad you know, I'm not going to fall and break a hip." He coughed slightly and smiled.

"I'm sorry, it's just…you look so…fragile…" I looked away from him. I hated that I had said that aloud, but it was true. His skin was abnormally pale and you could see every bone in his body. I hated when they examined him in the hospital, taking off his shirt to look at his thin body. They told me that it wasn't good for him to have lost this much weight and I knew. It wasn't Ed's fault that he couldn't keep food down, we were lucky when he could.

"Yeah, I noticed." I looked up to see him slowly lifting up his shirt.

"Ed, don't do this to yourself. I know that it will only make you feel worse." I knew I couldn't talk him out of it. I watched as his eyes widened, taking in the sight of his thin body. You could see every one of his ribs, jutting out painfully from under his pale skin. His once muscular stomach was concave with starvation. He looked like a skeleton with thin snow white skin stretched over it.

"I can see why you think that…" Ed lowered his shirt and glanced at his thin left arm, "When the doctors look at me I close my eyes, I would have rather not seen it. I'd have to face it one day no matter what, and I did."

I felt tears sting my eyes and was shocked to see that he was crying as well, silent tears streaming down his thin face.

"I'm scared dad, I really am. What if the chemo kills me? I already look dead, maybe I should be…" He looked at me with bloodshot eyes. "Am I really going to get better?"

"Yes you will, the doctors said that they've seen worse patients pull through." I took in a ragged breath, trying not to cry in front of him. I knew that would only make Ed fell worse.

I watched in horror as Ed's eyes closed and he fell sideways out of the chair. I leapt up and caught him before he could hit the hard linoleum floor. For a second I thought he had actually died on me but the faint rise and fall of his chest relieved me. It must have been too much for him and he passed out.

I sat on the floor, cradling his limp body in my arms, hoping he would wake up soon. Why the hell did I let him look at himself? I should have stopped him, if I had made everything worse then…

Ed moaned slightly in my arms, opening his eyes slowly. He stared ahead, dull golden eyes unfocused.

Tears slowly leaked out of his eyes and he turned his head slightly to look at me. "Dad…you'll stay with me right…you'll keep me safe?" His weak sorrowful voice broke my heart. I stood up and carried him towards the bedroom.

"I promise to keep you safe son, I'll never leave you." I saw the relief in Ed's eyes, his tense body when limp and he sighed.

"You called me son…that's a first…" His eyes were closed halfway, glazed with exhaustion. I watched as a small smile pursed his lips.

"You are like a son to me, you always were and you always will be." I lowered my head to gently kiss him on the forehead. He tensed suddenly then went back to being the limp body in my arms.

"I love you." Ed whispered as I opened the door of the bedroom. Al looked up at us from the corner of the room, running over to see if Ed was okay.

"I love you too." I set him down gently on the bed, throwing a blanket over him. I sat next to his head, gently combing my fingers through his tangled blond hair. I began humming the song that Al had told me was the song that their mother had hummed to them.

"Everything will get better soon." I whispered through my humming. I watched as Ed's eyes slowly closed, hopefully finally going to sleep. I sighed and lay down in the bed next to him, wrapping my arms around him; I didn't want to leave him. If I stayed in the room with him maybe he would get some sleep instead of following me around the house.

I closed my eyes and let a comforting wave of sleep overtake me.


	8. Chapter 8: Survivor

Yes, two chapters in one day! Even though this one is pretty short...oh well. Yeah there shall be one more chapter after this one, then the story shall be complete. Thank you all for your reviews and favorites, you guys are the reason I didn't stop in the middle of this story. I'm hoping to get the last chapter started tonight and finished by tomorrow, since I finally have the computer since my brother is camping^^

So enjoy and please vote in my poll for what my next project shall be, cause so far it looks like I'm rewriting Dog of the Military.

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Survivor

Today was my last chemotherapy session; it felt good to finally be done with it. Mustang and I were in a hospital room, waiting for the doctors to tell us that we could go home. Mustang was holding my left hand comfortingly, quietly humming my mother's song. I would have looked over at him but an IV was currently inserted into my arm, I was scared that I would panic if I saw the needle in my skin.

"What's taking them so long; I want to get the hell out of here." I hated the smell of hospitals, they smelt to clean and of many different medications.

"They're probably seeing if your cancers really gone. They also might keep you if they're worried about anything else."

"Like what?"

"They might be worried about how much weight you lost."

"I'm not staying here though; I'd rather be back at your house having you shove a tube down my throat or something." I sighed, not quite sure what they did with patients that had lost a lot of weight.

"Fine I'll tell them that when they come in." Right after Mustang finished his sentence there was a gentle knocking at the door. One of the male doctors walked in followed by a female nurse. The doctor was holding charts in his hands, looking at them closely.

"Edward, all traces of cancer are all gone." I sat up straighter, feeling happiness flood through me. Mustang looked at me and smiled, holding my hand tighter.

"No more chemo?"

"No more chemo." The nurse smiled and walked over to my right. With one gentle, swift movement she withdrew the needle in my arm, carefully placing a bandage over the small bleeding wound.

"Thank you." I whispered, happy to have the needle out of my arm. She smiled and then left the room, leaving me with Mustang and the doctor.

"He'll still need his pain medication; you might want to keep him on the depression pills as well. It would be safe to remove him from the blood thinners." The doctor said, still looking at the papers in his hands. "What worries me most is how much weight he's lost."

I knew this was coming. I sighed and settled back into the hospital pillows, glaring at the doctor. I was _not _staying in this hospital any longer; if they wanted to keep me I wouldn't let them.

"What are you going to do about it? He doesn't have to stay here does he?" Mustang asked. The doctor shook his head and looked up from his papers.

"There's not much we could do for him here that you couldn't do for him at your home. Have any of the other doctors talked to you about force feeding him?"

"Yeah, but I'm not going to force him to eat if he doesn't want to."

"You might have to; he needs to get stronger since the chemo weakened him severely."

"It's against my morals to shove food down childrens throats, besides sometimes he just throws it up anyway."

"When's the last time he ate?"

"Around four days ago, he ate yesterday but threw up."

The doctor sighed slightly. He walked over to me and gently lifted my left arm up, examining it closely. "His skin is very pale to, but that's normal with cancer patients." The doctor then pulled a stethoscope out of his coat pocket.

"Can you sit up Edward?" He asked gently. I nodded and felt him lift up my shirt slowly and sliding the cool metal stethoscope to my chest. I knew the drill already and breathed in and out several times then he moved to my back. I shivered slightly as the object slid over my spine to rest in between my shoulders. Again I breathed in several times then I was done.

"His breathing sounds a lot better." The doctor put the stethoscope away, "You're free to leave now if you want."

"I sure as hell want to leave." I sat up and tried to stand, but my legs still felt weak. I fell back onto the bed letting out a frustrated breath.

"I'll help you." Mustang put his arm around my waist and I put my arm over his shoulder. I leaned heavily on him as we walked from the room, my feet scuffing the ground.

"So you're a survivor." He smiled.

"Do I get a prize or something?"

"You get to go home and sleep."

"That's a good enough prize for me." I sighed as we walked out the doors of the hospital, breathing in the fresh untainted air. Mustang helped me over to his car, opening the back door with his one free hand. I slid inside and lay down in the back seat, closing my eyes slowly.

"Can I sleep in the car?"

"I don't care; I'll carry you into the house when we get there."

"Mkay." I muttered, already feeling sleep overtake me. Thank goodness all this was over, now maybe I could sleep without nightmares.


	9. Chapter 9: Motivation

I finished this today, cause World of Warcraft is down for a couple hours and I have time to write it. Yes this is the last chapter and I really hope you like it. Thank you all for reading, reviewing and favoriting. You guys gave me the motivation to finish this story and not give up halfway though it.

Enjoy the final chapter, and don't worry, there will be more stories done by me uploaded soon enough.

Oh and talking about stories, since I'm officially finished with this one vote in my poll to see what I will be working on yet. I really want to rewrite one of my previous stories, since my writing has gotten a lot better. So far 4 people have voted and by the looks of it I'm rewriting Dog of the Military. Either way I'm going to rewrite Dog of the Military if everyone wants me to rewrite another story, cause I have the whole story planned out in my head already.

So please enjoy. Lovels you all! ^^

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Motivation

"Ed, get up, Dr. Knoxs is here to see you." I slowly opened my eyes with a groan. It had been three weeks since my chemo had ended, but I still felt tired and weak. Mustang had suggested that Dr. Knoxs should examine me, since as he put it "he's seen tons of crazy shit in Ishval, he may be able to help."

Mustang gently helped me sit up in the bed and I sighed. The room was blurry, probably since I had been forced to wake up. Al was in the room as well, sitting on the right side of the bed. I couldn't see Knoxs anywhere; he was probably outside the door waiting for Mustang to let him enter the room.

"After this can I go back to sleep?" I asked, rubbing my eyes with the back of my hand.

"Sure, after you take your medication and eat something."

"I'm not hungry though."

"To bad, you need to eat to get better." Mustang said gently. Ever since we had left the hospital he had been randomly waking me up to give my medication and to force me to eat something. Normally it was a small bowl of soup or something and he would sit in the room to make sure I ate it all. It had helped somewhat, I had gained around four pounds. But I still looked horrible; I avoided looking in the mirror, terrified to look at my face, to scared to take in what had become of my body.

"So did you warn him that I look like hell?" I asked, glancing at the door to make sure he didn't randomly barge in.

"Yeah, I also told him to be careful around you. I mainly told him not to act shocked when he sees you." Mustang gently put his hand on my shoulder. I looked away; I didn't want to think of Knoxs's expression when he saw what the chemo had done to me.

"May I come in now?" A voice rough with age asked from behind the door. Mustang stood up and walked over to the door, slowly opening it.

"Remember what I told you, he looks horrible but don't act shocked."

"Yeah yeah, I'm pretty sure he won't be as bad as some of the corpses that you brought me in Ishval. Now _that _scared the hell out of me, I never knew someone could be burned that severely."

"We can chat about the wonders of Ishval after you look over him."

"Okay." Dr. Knoxs walked into the room, led by Mustang. I saw his eyes widen when he saw me but he didn't show any other signs of surprise.

"Damn…" He muttered, stopping to stand in front of me. He carefully grabbed my left arm, placing his fingers on my wrist. I shuddered when I saw how big his fingers were compared to my thin wrist.

Mustang sat on the bed beside me, putting his arm comfortingly around my shoulders.

"Pulse is weaker than it should be…and of course he's lost a ton of weight." Knoxs looked up at me, studying my face. "He has little to no color in his skin..." He stopped and ran a hand through my hair. I hadn't bothered to put it in a braid or ponytail; I just let it hang limply over my shoulders. It felt weird having this strange man's fingers brushing through my hair eventually he drew back, a couple strands of dull golden hair hanging from his fingers.

"Yeah you can tell he's had chemo, mainly because his hair is so thin and dull. At least he didn't lose it completely, but it will take some time before it looks better. But I'm not so worried about your hair, mainly your current health." Knoxs looked at Mustang, "could you please move for a second?" He obeyed and moved off the bed to stand beside Knoxs.

"What are you doing?" I asked, watching as he flinched at my dull voice.

"Take off your shirt; I want to see how bad it is." I shuddered but slowly pulled my shirt over my head and threw it beside me on the bed. I closed my eyes, still scared to look at myself. Ever since I had done that before my last chemo session I didn't do it again, I didn't want to have a panic attack or anything.

Knoxs hands gently felt around my ribs, slowly moving down my sides. "Does any of this hurt?" He asked as he pressed a little on my abdomen. I shook my head and he continued to put small amounts of pressure around my torso, occasionally he would asked if it hurt but it never did.

"I seems like his organs are okay, which is good. His bones feel fine, maybe a little more fragile that they should be but there's no cracks or breaks in his ribs." I sighed and moved to put my shirt back on but Knoxs stopped me. "Edward, have you looked at yourself?"

I shook, eyes widening in terror. "Once but that weeks ago, I haven't since then…" I trailed off, watching Knoxs carefully.

"Is it okay if I take him in the bathroom? He has to see what state he's in, that's the first step to him getting better."

"Why does he have to look at himself?" Mustang asked, looking sternly at Knoxs.

"It will probably give him the motivation he needs to get better. Can you stand on your own Edward?"

I shook my head, my legs were shaking so much that the thought of standing seemed impossible. He sighed and called Al over.

"You can help him into the bathroom; he may need someone to calm him down too. By the look in his eyes I can tell he doesn't want to do it."

"Yes doctor." Al moved over to stand behind Knoxs. He moved out of the way and allowed Al to gently pull me to my feet, letting me lean on his large metal body down the small hallway that led to Mustang's bathroom.

"Stand outside the door and Ed, if you happen to faint or anything fall towards Al." I nodded as Knoxs flicked on the lights in the bathroom. He moved over for me to have room to look in the mirror. I walked in front of the mirror; eyes closed, and gripped the side of the sink for support. I slowly opened my eyes and nearly had a heart attack.

I remembered what I had looked like during my chemo, but it still shocked me to the core. My boney shoulders were shaking, my thin arm gripping the sink tightly. I could still see every rib and my stomach was caved in, it seemed impossible that there were organs in my torso at all. The only thing I could see was bone, with pale skin stretched over it.

"Do you see how sick you are now? Don't hide from it; you must face it head on if you want any hope of getting better." Knoxs gently placed his hand on my left shoulder; it made me feel even worse to see how large his hand looked in comparison to my shoulder.

"I need…to lie down…now…" I shuddered as small dots of color began to cover my vision. I remembered what Knoxs had said and fell right, towards Al's waiting arms.

"Big brother!" Al cried, curling my limp body close to his. I groaned slightly, my stomach feeling weak. I knew if I had eaten anything earlier I probably would have thrown up.

"I knew it would be too much for him, let him rest for a little." Knoxs's voice got quieter and quieter as I slowly went unconscious.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

With a groan I opened my eyes, taking in the bright light of Mustang's bedroom. I flipped over onto my right side to see Al sitting close to the bed.

"Brother, thank goodness you're awake." His voice echoed with relief, he carefully lift his hand and placed it on my head.

"Where are dad and Knoxs?" I asked, trying not to remember what I had seen in the mirror.

"Knoxs left and dad is in his living room. Knoxs told him and I some stuff that I think you should know."

"What did he tell you?"

"Well for one not to feed you big meals, because you'd only throw the food back up. He suggested small bowls of soup for a week like we've been doing then slowly moving to solid food."

"Okay, so is that it?"

"No, he said that your immune system is probably really weak, so we can't really take you outside around a lot of people. If you catch a cold you have a higher chance of dying from it."

"Anything else?"

"Yeah, and he suggested me helping you walk around the house to get your legs stronger. Maybe I could take you outside in dad's backyard for a little and get some fresh air."

"That would be great, can you go and get dad please? I want him in here with me."

"I understand." Al stood up and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. I sighed and sat up in the bed, leaning on the headboard. Eventually Mustang entered with Al close behind.

"Al said you wanted to see me?" He said, sitting next to me on the bed.

"Yeah, I just really need a hug right now."

"Why not from Al?"

"Because I want a hug from my dad." I said, wrapping my arms around Mustang and burring my face in his neck.

"Edward…" He whispered, gently putting his arms around my thin waist. I snuggled closer to him, desperately wanting him near me.

"Dad, you'll help me with this right?" I asked, trying not to cry.

"Of course son, I'll help you until you're well enough to continue your journey."

"I love you dad."

"I love you, both of you." Mustang murmured. Then he began to hum my mother's song. I closed my eyes and fell asleep in his arms, already feeling better than I had before.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Two and a half months had passed by. Each week I had gotten stronger, driven by the sickly image of myself. After two weeks I could walk on my own and keep down solid food without getting sick. After three weeks I finally went out into the backyard with Al, happy to be out of the stuffy house and into the cool winter air. I didn't really snow in central, it only got really cold, and after five minutes outside I was shivering badly.

I had gotten a lot better in those two and a half months. My skin wasn't deathly pain anymore and my hair was thicker and brighter. The biggest change was that I had gained back most of my weight, even though I still looked a little too thin than before I felt good.

Mustang had been a big help, being a great father figure in Al and I's life. He supported me, when I was scared or felt like giving up he would motivate me, make me remember the goal that lay only feet away. It saddened me that we were leaving his home to return to the barracks, but I had suggested it, after all I was stronger than before and I could handle myself. I also had Al to keep me safe as well.

We were in Mustang's car, driving away from his home to the military barracks. I was sitting in the passenger seat and Al was sitting in the back seat, watching the world slowly go by. Mustang and I had agreed that it would be better if Al and I stopped calling him dad, since it would be strange to suddenly begin calling him dad when we went into his office. But as long as I thought of him as my father and he thought of Al and I as his sons it was okay.

The car stopped in front of the military building and all three of us stepped out of the car.

"I'll miss you both so much, it'll be strange in the house without the two of you there."

"You'll get used to it, and it will be strange staying in the barracks away from you."

I sighed; I knew Al and I should get inside. I really hated the cold and it was beginning to snow.

"I guess we go back to the way things were now right? You being the Fullmetal punk and me being colonel dumbass." I laughed and he smiled.

"Yeah, but remember that I love you like a father, and that will never change."

"Same here, goodbye son, see you soon."

"Love you dad."

"Love you too."

With that I flung myself into his arms, hugging him one last time. Al joined in, wrapping his arms around both of us. Mustang laughed and hugged us both.

This was all over now, but still Al and I would think of Mustang as a father. And he was the best father anyone could ever have.

The End

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Yes its the end, thank you all for reading, reviewing and favoriting. There will be more stories to come!

Lovels you all so much for enjoying this story ^^


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